Pep Guardiola was beaming after Manchester City rallied to win the Champions League, capping a night of lackluster performances from AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
It was after a penalty. Against an injury-ravaged but resilient Newcastle team on Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 thanks to a penalty kick from Kylian Mbappé in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
In the twenty-fourth minute, Alexander Isak made up for his earlier miss when he shot over the crossbar from close range with a rebound.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of PSG could only parry a speculative effort from Miguel Almirón’s edge of the box, sending it to Isak’s feet for an easy finish.
Following their 4-1 victory over the same opponents last month, Newcastle appeared poised to pull off another surprising victory, while PSG squandered chance after chance.
Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over Leipzig put City in first place in Group G and extended their unbeaten run to five games. Phil Foden spearheaded a second-half comeback.
City has won its group for the seventh season in a row.
After the final whistle, Guardiola grinned as he shook hands with Marco Rose of Leipzig, the team that had trailed 2-0 at halftime. Foden scored one goal and assisted in creating two more to turn the tide of play.
Guardiola stated, “We had to be as relaxed as possible, and we reacted really well.” “We lead the group, and I’m thrilled with the response we received at the conclusion. The group fights, runs, and is energetic.
Deep into stoppage time, Kylian Mbappé’s penalty kept PSG in the game with a resilient but injured Newcastle squad, drawing 1-1.
Borussia Dortmund, a semifinalist the previous season, advanced with a 3-1 victory at Milan in the close Group F.
Lazio, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid also made it further.
Following two consecutive group-stage eliminations, Barcelona defeated Porto 2-1 and advanced to the knockout stage thanks to goals from Portuguese duo João Félix and João Cancelo.
Barcelona will be participating in the round of 16 for the first time since Lionel Messi left the team.
Group E
Lazio defeated Celtic 2-0 thanks to two goals from Ciro Immobile in the last ten minutes.
Then, with the aid of two own goals, Atletico defeated Feyenoord 3-1 to guarantee its place in the next round and advance Lazio.
With 11 points, Atletico is ahead of Lazio (10), Feyenoord (6), and Celtic (1).
The match that will decide which team wins the group takes place on December 13 when Lazio visits Atletico.
Group F
Early in the match in Paris, Alexander Isak scored for Newcastle on a rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma of PSG blocked a shot that would have been easy for Isak to finish.
Following their 4-1 victory over the same opponents last month, Newcastle appeared poised to pull off another surprising victory, while PSG squandered chance after chance.
That is, until the ball bounced off Tino Livramento’s chest and onto his arm after Ousmane Dembélé flicked it up in the fifth minute of stoppage time. After reviewing the incident on video review, referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a penalty, and Mbappé blasted the kick past goalkeeper Nick Pope.
At the San Siro, Marco Reus scored from the penalty spot to give Dortmund an early lead after Olivier Giroud saved a penalty for Milan. The visitors’ goals from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and substitute Karim Adeyemi gave them the victory they needed to secure their place in the round of 16. Samuel Chukwueze leveled the score at the end of the first half.
With 10 points, Dortmund is in first place, followed by PSG (7), Newcastle (5), and Milan (5).
Before the final round, which will see Dortmund host PSG and Newcastle host Milan, PSG, Newcastle, and Milan are all still in the running for first place in the group.
Group G
Both teams had already advanced to Manchester, where Foden assisted Erling Haaland for a goal in the 54th minute and equalized in the 70th. Substitute Julian Alvarez’s winning goal in the 87th minute was made possible in part by him, and City maintained their unbeaten home record in the Champions League, which dates back to 2018.
Leipzig’s goals came from Lois Openda in the 13th and 33rd minutes, but City came back stronger than ever after the break, led by Foden.
With a 2-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade, the Swiss club Young Boys claimed third place in the group.
With a perfect 15 points, City is in first place, followed by Leipzig (9), Young Boys (4), and Red Star (1).
Group H
Pepê gave Porto the lead in the 30th minute, but Barcelona responded with Cancelo tying the score two minutes later and Félix sealing the victory in the 57th.
With a 1-0 victory over Antwerp, Mykola Matviyenko’s diving header kept Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk in the running for a spot in the knockout stage.
Barcelona has the most points (12), but they haven’t yet won the group. Porto (9), Shakhtar (9) and Antwerp (0) are next in line.
The runners-up advance to the Europa League knockout stages.
